Card punching machine



Jag 21, 1947.

D. A. NEVIN CARD PUNCHING MACHINE Filed Apr'il 20. 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Jan. 21, 1947. D. A. NEvlN CARD PUNCHING MACHINE Filed April 20, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 vatented `an. 21, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 20 Claims.

My invention relates to that class of card punches described in Welk Pat. No. 1,981,932 and Welk and Nevin Pats. Nos. 2,062,153 and 2,062,157, which punches are designed to punch notches in the margins of cards such as those described in Perkins Pat. No. 1,544,172.

As is well known, these cards are furnished to the use in the printed and perforated form and a keyboard controlled notching punch is rented to large users for notching such cards from a perforation to the adjacent margin of the card, while the smaller and more numerous users notch their cards with a ticket punch similar to those used by train conductors. Frequently there are dozens of holes to be notched out in a single card, and the manual operation of notching hundreds of them causes severe fatigue and slows up the entire procedure. It is an object of this invention to provide for speedy operation of a commercial ticket punch, with avoidance of fatigue and with Very accurate punching, a preferred means for actuating the punch being a solenoid, though other electrical or mechanical means may be employed. Y

It is very necessary thatl the notches should be accurately cut and spaced, all as provided for in the larger key punches, and it is a further object of my invention to provide means whereby the low cost ticket punches referred to may be made to punch out the perforations to a uniform distance from a margin of a card, and to space the notches accurately without resort to elaborate mechanisms such as the escapement described in my Patent No. 2,041,085.

The perforated keysort card, when punched in a keypunch of the type described in the abovementioned patents, is dropped into a slot and is punched blind. Users of the ticket punch favor visibility as in hand punching but for the tiresome effort required. It is a still further object of my invention to provide means whereby that ,card margin that is being punched is Visible to the operator when the card is in position to be punched.

Another object is to provide a, simple escapement mechanism that permits of indexing a card either to the right or to the left for a distance equal to that from one hole of the card to the next.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the card holder can be freed instantly from the escape mechanism to permit replacement of the holder, e. g., in a position equivalent to the indexing of four perforations (one eld) to right or left, or to any other distance. Such ready detachability permits a card holder to be exchanged with facility for another of greater or less length, according to the length of the cards to be punched.

The means for accomplishing the foregoing objects may be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part `of this application, and in which similar' reference characters indicate similar parts. In said drawings: A

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my notching device, with a card of the type used in needle sorting shown in position tobe punched, parts of said device being broken away, i

Fig. 2, a vertical section on line lil-i 0' of Fig. l, exposing the ticket punch operating mechanism,

Fig. 3, a full scale perspective of a card indexing detail,

Fig. 4, a vertical section of a modified form of the invention, parts being omitted, and

` Fig. 5, a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

As shown in Fig. 1, a card Il is provided with ene or more rows of conventional perforations arranged in groups or elds adjacent and parallel to one or more of its edges, numerals 1, 2, 4 and '7 being printed on the card adjacent to the corresponding perforations of each group or eld. Various combinations of these perforations are notched through an edge to form a pattern or code representing certain values, thus providing for needle sorting of the cards into predetermined sequence. Or single perforations may be notched, each notch representing a Value.

The card il is inserted into a holder l2 consisting of a. back plate I3 with right and left guides i3 attached thereto by means of rivets I3 or by spot welding. The guides I3 provide guiding spaces somewhat thicker than the maximum thickness of any card to be punched.

Overlapping ears are indicated at I4 and are secured to plate E3 by means of rivets I3. These ears serve to retain the card which rests upon the upper surface of a shoulder formed on the cover I5. The card holder i3 has a rack l attached to its rear face by rivets Il, said rack overhanging a vertical flange of an L-shaped angle iron 2 I, said rack being shaped with approximately half-cir cular scallops in its lower edge, as indicated at i8, for the purpose hereinafter described. The lower edge of rack I6 in its normal position rests upon a track I9 which is riveted to the L-shaped iron as at i9. The angle iron and track extend beyond the frame of the device at right and left for a distance suicient to provide for the `largest sizes of cards'thatare to be` punched.

The rack I6, las clearly shown `in Fie. 2, is

formed with an offset which is bulged out to the right in Fig. 1 for an amount sufficiently greater than the thickness of the upright flange of the angle iron 2I to permit the assembled card holder to be moved freely from right to left and vice versa or to be removed by simply lifting it upward from the guide flange, which is straddled by 'the back plate I3 and the rack It. This feature permits the exchange of card holders for different sizes of cards, and also permits the operator to shift the holder 'and its card readily to any desired extent.

For holding small cards in place in a card holder that is too large for them I provide a spring clip 22 which is secured to an ear I4 by"rivets 22. This means also provides for retention of a card in the holder I2 when the card is inserted endwise, assuming that the height of the card is not so great as its width. The holder is then posisitioned to place the card behind the punch and in front of the die 24 of the punch hereinafter described.

The indexing device shown in Fig. 3 may be compared to a pinion with two teeth that are milled from one piece integral with the shaft 25 as indicated at 25', or which may be attached thereto as rollers by means of shouldered screws (not shown). In assembly the axis of shaft 25 lies in a plane where the lower edge of rack It; contacts with the upper edge of the track I9.

In Fig. 1 a half circular clearance cut in track I@ is indicated at I9, permitting the pinion to be rotated. A half turn reverses the positions of the teeth 25' and causes the rack I6 and the card holder with its card to be indexed to the right or the left depending upon the direction of rotation of the shaft 25. It is obvious that the distance between the centers of the pinion teeth 25 must correspond to the pitch of the rack teeth I8.

Referring to Fig. 2, motion is transmitted to shaft 25 from a vertical shaft 26 by means of miter gears 2I. In Fig. 1 a, section of the cover I is broken out to show the vertical shaft, which is driven in either direction by means of a hand knob 28, pinned to a shaft 29, through the medium of miter gears 3D.

Rapid rotation of knob 28 causes the rack I6 and card holder to move rapidly over several spaces so that a eld of four holes in the card (corresponding to 7-4-2-1 in the system) may be indexed as readily as from one hole to the next one.

There are many instances where a card is to be notched with one or two notches at the extreme left and similar notching is desired at the extreme right. To obtain this result it is not necessary to rotate the knob 28 for moving the card and its holder for the entire distance, but the holder with its card may be lifted by hand suiciently high to free the rack I6 from the gear 25 and then the holder may be moved to desired position before again lowering it into position for engagement of the rack with said gear.

In Fig. 2 the ticket punch 3| is attached to a base 32 by means of a bracket 33 and rivets 33'. One handle 34 is shortened for clearance purposes and is connected by a link 35 on a pivot pin 33 to a lever 39, the link being held in a position for opening the punch by separating the punch jaw 23 from the die 24, as by a spring 31 anchored to a post 38.

The lever 39 is pivotally supported on a shaft lil which is supported at its ends in bearings on the frame or cover I5. To the lower end of lever '39 there is attached by means of a cond necting link 43 a, plunger 4I extending from a solenoid 42.

The solenoid d2 is motivated by electric current supplied through the normally open blade switch which is closed by movement of the tail 45' of one of two levers @5 which are connected outside of the device by the strip 46 on which is located the pad il of rubber or plastic by means of screws (not shown). rIhe coil spring 48 draws the tail 55' downward to open the switch, which is therefore normally open.

The spring 48 is attached to the base 32 by means of a spring clip 49 as shown. The spring post 3S is threaded or driven into the upper part of the solenoid t2. The downward movement of the lever d5 is limited by contact with the bottom of its slot 65".

The pinion shaft 25 rotates in a bearing block 5d which is affixed to the top cover I5 by screws 5I which pass through angle iron 2l. A separate cover for this mechanism is indicated at 52. The vertical shaft rotates in a bearing bushing 53 which is riveted or welded to top cover I5. A similar bearing bushing is provided for shaft 29.

A drawer 55 extends across the interior of the device and is inserted through an openingin the rear.V A knob 55 is provided for convenient removal of drawer 55. Rubber feet may be used 0n the frame, as indicated at 5I.

In the modied form of Figs. 4 and 5 the ticket punch is mounted as before. The spring 58 is a conventional part of a commercial punch of conventional character. The elongated hub of the hand lever 5@ is pivotedv to a side wall of theV casing by the shouldered bolt E@ and the nut 5I. The lower end 0f the arm 52 of the punch is loosely fitted into a slot 63 milled into the hub of the manually operated lever 59. A slot 64 is provided in the front of the casing for movement of the operating lever 59.

It is contemplated'that the modification of Figs. 4 andV 5 could be arranged for operation by the foot of the user, and that either form can beY actuated in any of various mechanical methods, as will be obvious. It is also believed tobe obvious that many other alterations may be made in the device, all without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore I do not limit myself to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim i-s:

1. VIn a card punching machine, a frame, a track on the frame, punching means on the frame, a card holder slidable past said punching means, and means for moving said card holder along said track, theicard holder being free of the remaining parts so that it can be lifted-directly out of the machine during operation of the machine.

2. In a card punching machine, a track, a freely removable card holder adapted to slide on the track, means adjacent the track for notching the margin of a card, and springless manual means for sliding the holder along said track, said means including means for locating the holder so that a perforation of a card thereon will register with the notching means..

3. In a card punching machine, av track, an upright plate forming a single freely removable holder for perforated cards mounted on said track and arranged to hold a card in upright position, means adjacent the track for notching a card outward from a perforation to its adjacent margin, springless manual means for moving the holder along the track, and means Afor T-pos'itioning the holder for locating a card on the holder so as to bring a perforation of the card into registry with the punching means.

4. In a card punching machine, a single upright blade serving as a track, a holder thereon for maintaining a perforated card in upright position, a horizontally movable punch adjacent the track for notching perforations in a card selectively to its margin, means for moving the holder along the track, and means for insuring that each selected perforation shall register with said punch.

5. A device as in claim 4, said holder being freely liftable out of the machine, as to move it manually from one extreme position on the track to another position thereon.

6. In a, card punching machine, a track, a card holder for a card slidable on said track, a punch adjacent the track, and a two-toothed pinion located to engage with notches in the card holder for moving the same, said notches being correlated to perforations in the cards.

7. In a machine for notching perforated cards, a fixed frame, a card holder adapted to hold a perforated card in upright position, means Whereby said card holder may be moved laterally across the frame, a ticket punch having pivotally connected arms, means for supporting said punch in upright position with one arm fixed and the other movable to notch a card on the holder, and a solenoid having its coil in fixed position and its core connected to the movable arm of the punch.

3. A device as in claim '7, comprising a switch in the frame in circuit with said solenoid coil, and a rockarm projecting from the frame for manual operation.

9. A device as in claim '7, said card holder being open at the front, a ledge on the frame in front of the holder on Which ledge the bottom edge of the card rests, the die of the punch being behind the card and the punch in front of the card, so that the part of the card being operated on is visible to the operator.

10. In a machine for notching the edges of cards having perforations along said edges, the combination of a card holder having grooved side members for receiving a card, and a leaf spring remote from the top of a normal card, said spring extending to a substantial distance from a side member of the holder into position to hold a relatively small card in place on the holder.

11. In a machine for notching the edges of perforated cards, a frame having a ledge to support the edge of an upright card, a card holder having a rear wall and upright grooved guide members for sustaining a card resting on said ledge, said holder being open at the front, top and bottom, punching means including a punch element extending up through said ledge into position for actuation to notch the adjacent edge of a card thereon, so that the punching operation is visible tothe operator, and means whereby said holder may be moved laterally with relation to the punch.

l2. In a machine for notching perforated cards selectively, a card holder for holding a card upright, a punch supported to notch out perforations along the lower edge of the card, means for moving the card edgewisecomprising a series of notches in the holder spaced correspondingly to the perforations in the cards to be notched out, and actuating means engaging with said notches, said means being adapted to move the card laterally step-by-step to bring successive perforations into registry with the punch.

13. In a card punching machine, a frame, a track on the frame, punching means on the frame, a card holder slidable on said track past said punching means, and indexing means engaging said rack for driving the holder along said track step by step, the holder being freely removable from the indexing means for manually setting the holder along the track.

14. A device as in claim 13, the indexing means including a two-toothed pinion and the rack having a series of recesses in its edge shaped to ntert with said teeth.

15. In a card punching machine, a irame, a track on said frame, a card holder on said track for holding a card in vertical position, and means for driving the holder alongsaid track, the holder being so constructed that it may be lifted off its driving means during operation of said means, as for adjustment oi the holder along its track.

16. A device as in claim 15, said track consisting of a thin upright plate, and the holder having parts fitting against the opposite side faces of the track to keep the holder upright thereon.

17. The combination of a frame having a ledge, means for holding a card upright thereon with its lower edge on the ledge, means for moving the card endwise, a lever pivoted on the frame below the card holder, said lever having a punching portion projecting above said ledge, and means connected to it-s other end for operating the punch.

18. A device as in claim 17, the last-named means including a solenoid with a horizontally movable armature.

19. In a card punching machine, a track, a card holder movable along said track, a, pivotally mounted punch adjacent the track in position to notch the margin of a card on the holder, a solenoid having an armature for operating the punch, means for moving the holder and its card stepby-step laterally, and uniformly spaced abutments on the holder cooperating with the step-by-step means.

20. A card punch of the shear type, said punch comprising pivoted members with handles at one end and coacting punching members at the other end, means for supporting a solenoid in fixed relation to one handle, and operating connections from the armature of the solenoid to the other handle.

DONALD A. NEVIN. 

